An Oakland law firm’s contract with City of Milpitas has been enhanced once again to deal with odor issues the city claims largely emanate from the Newby Island Landfill and Resource Recovery Park at 1601 Dixon Landing Road in San Jose.

Milpitas has been battling to curb the odor producing sources on its western border for many years. However, its legal protest to a go-ahead to raising the landfill height at Newby Island to the size of a 20-story building seems to have resonated in the ears of the San Jose Planning Commission. Last week the commission voted unanimously to delay any action permitting the expansion until it conducts an independent study of the problem.

City leaders say the proposed expansion to Newby Island Landfill and Resource Recovery Park at 1601 Dixon Landing Road, located across the border in San Jose, will make life unbearable for those who live and work in Milpitas. To make their position clear, Milpitas City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt a resolution finding operations at Newby Island a public nuisance that creates a negative environmental effect.

Milpitas has been smelling pretty bad lately, and the city says it’s all San Jose’s fault. A lawsuit filed a couple weeks ago says San Jose isn’t doing its job as overseer of the Newby Island Sanitary Landfill and Composting Facility in controlling its odors. In fact, says the complaint, the city as “local enforcement agency” won’t even grant its li’l northern neighbor a hearing on its odor complaint.